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Lindsey Horan (R) of the United States vies with Damaris Egurrola of the Netherlands. Xinhua

How USWNT pulled off second-half comeback to tie Netherlands

By Alyssa Clang | Last updated 7/27/23

When the U.S. Women's National Team came off the field at halftime in its group stage match against the Netherlands, the team was a goal down and entirely out of ideas. There's no getting around it: The first 45 minutes were rough for the USWNT. The Dutch women had the game in a chokehold, running circles around the Americans in midfield and racking up the vast majority of ball possession.

When the second half started, things looked different from the start. The Dutch looked tentative and quiet; the Americans looked hungry and raw. What changed to give momentum back to the USWNT? How did they wrestle the game back into their control?

Rose Lavelle. The OL Reign forward is coming off of a nasty knee injury, and while she's capable of playing, she's not yet ready for a full 90-minute match. USWNT manager Vlatko Andonovski leveraged Lavelle as a late substitution in the opening game against Vietnam to test her fitness without running her ragged, and he did the same thing here, subbing her on for midfielder Savannah DeMelo at halftime to add bite to the USWNT offense. Lavelle's impact was immediate. She's one of the USWNT's most creative and kinetic players, and her intelligent attacks were the key to unlocking the previously impenetrable Dutch defense.

But her biggest impact wasn't tactical; it was mental. Rose ran onto the field pumping her fists and screaming for the crowd to get behind her. She was ready for battle, and her readiness inspired her teammates to keep fighting.

Good, old-fashioned fury. USWNT captain Lindsey Horan spent most of the game getting tackled by her Olympique Lyonnais teammate Daniëlle van de Donk, and by the 62nd minute, Horan was fed up. She ran to the referee after a particularly feisty challenge and demanded that van de Donk be punished.

Moments before the goal, Daniëlle van de Donk and Lindsey Horan were spoken to by the referee after a hard challenge and pushing in the box.

Lindsey Horan had the last laugh... pic.twitter.com/mBhVryHcDo
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 27, 2023

The referee wasn't interested. Instead of calling fouls or carding van de Donk, she encouraged the two players to apologize and work it out. Horan refused — and decided to take punishment into her own hands. She lined up for a USWNT corner and slammed an angry header directly into the Dutch net, mere moments after her argument with van de Donk. So much for apologies.

Taking advantage of a new Dutch shape. Much was said during the broadcast about the Dutch back three. Four-person defensive lines are common, and many commentators seemed convinced that the Dutch were hurting their own chances by playing such a "light" defense against a team like the U.S. With an aggressive, possession-minded midfield — one that had five players to the USWNT's four — the Dutch back three thrived in the first half.

That is until disaster struck. Central defender Stefanie van der Gragt went down with an injury at the end of the first half and had to leave the game. The Dutch didn't have a like-for-like replacement for van der Gragt on the bench; as the central lynchpin of the three-person defense, her role was unique and crucial. Young defender Aniek Nouwen came on in van der Gragt's place, and she tried her best ... but the USWNT could sense that she was a weak link. The team charged most of its attacks through Nouwen's part of the field, and when Horan scored her tying goal, she did so by leaping over Nouwen in the box. Would van der Gragt have defended Horan better? We'll never know for sure, but signs point to yes.

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